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Your gift today will help provide opportunities for aspiring researchers to help pioneer medical breakthroughs for you and your loved ones
Donate nowAll gifts over #2 are tax deductible
You’ll be supporting hardworking and dedicated researchers
Our researchers share your passions for finding cures and treatments for conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, hearing loss and much more.
You’ll help superstars of the future like Ajmal
Seeing family and friends struggle with hearing loss in his home country of Sri Lanka inspired Ajmal Azees to use his Electronic Engineering degree to explore ways to adapt existing medical devices and help improve the lives of people living with hearing loss.
But even after graduating with a first-class degree, the financial burden of post-graduate education made it impossible for Ajmal to continue his research without support.
Thanks to a student PhD scholarship, Ajmal has been able to to dedicate his time and efforts to hearing research and is using his skills to use a combination of light and electrical stimulation to improve the cochlear implant.
The everyday impact? Cochlear implant users will be better able to distinguish specific sounds.
Your kindness and generosity are an investment in the hard working research stars of the future. You can help pioneer the life-changing medical breakthroughs that you and your loved ones urgently need.
You’ll be supporting researchers like Ella
Ella Trang was recently awarded a PhD Scholarship to undertake research that will improve understanding of how implants interact with tissues in the body, such as the inner ear, to help researchers at the Bionics Institute speed up treatment developments.
A biomedical science graduate, Ella has worked at the Bionics Institute for several years and runs our Histology Laboratory. Asked why she hasn’t undertaken a PhD previously, she says it’s just not feasible to ask people to study and work really hard to make a difference without giving them financial support.
She said: “I had the seed of an idea – to create 3D images of inner ear tissue with the implant attached – so we can see the underlying mechanism of changes in response to treatment and find new ways to improve implants. This scholarship will allow me to carve out some time from my day-to-day work to focus on this project.
“I have worked with many PhD students over the years and donations of any level are really appreciated to relieve some of the financial burden. It’s one less thing students have to worry about while they focus on their research and finding innovative ways to diagnose and treat disease.”
Help us to change the future of medicine
In our Student Support Webinar: Changing the Future of Medicine, you’ll hear from research leaders about their experiences as a PhD or Masters student to their current positions, and from students who have just started on their exciting post-graduate research journeys.
Speakers
Dr Sheridan Laing, Bionics Institute’s Research Program Manager will explain the vital role students play within the Bionics Institute’s research teams, and the contribution they make to solving the world’s most challenging medical conditions with innovative technology.
The webinar also includes a panel session featuring Dr Julia Wunderlich, Bionics Institute’s Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Ajmal Azees, a biomedical engineering PhD student within the Bionics Institute’s Optogenetics team.
Did you know that in a survey of medical researchers*:
83% had considered leaving active research for another career
53% are supported by grants, without which they would be unemployed
That’s why your generosity towards scholarships for researchers is so vital.
Without it, they can’t survive the double burden of cost of living and the dedication required to achieve life-changing medical breakthroughs.
* 2016 Australian Society for Medical Research Workforce Survey
Dr Dean Freestone – CEO, Seer Medical
Dean Freestone has come a long way from his days as a hardworking PhD researcher at the Bionics Institute 15 years ago.
Today, Dean is the CEO and Co-Founder of Seer Medical. Through the company, he has turned his research into usable technology which gives people with epilepsy control of their condition and health.
Dean candidly admits he would have ended up in another sector or industry without a scholarship.
“I’ve never heard of anyone being able to do PhD research without getting a scholarship. If you can afford to give, then you should know that your donation is being matched in blood, sweat and tears at the other end.”
– Dr Dean Freestone
Professor Nick Opie – Inventor of the life-changing StentrodeTM
Professor Nick Opie is a long-time friend of the Bionics Institute,
having collaborated on bionic eye research during
his own PhD studies.
Today, Professor Opie is the inventor of the life changing stentrode, that will allow even those with the most debilitating paralysis to control a computer with
their mind.
Professor Opie said that “your generosity could potentially open the pool up to people who might otherwise not have the financial security to do a PhD.
“It’d be a shame to miss out on training up the next generation, just because they couldn’t afford it… there are some incredibly smart people who can’t meet
the cost of living while doing a PhD.”
Your generosity could open the pool up to people who might otherwise not have the financial security of doing a PhD. It’d be a shame to miss out on training up the next generation, just because they couldn’t afford it…there are some incredibly smart people who can’t meet the cost of living while doing a PhD.” Professor Nick Opie, Inventor of the life-changing Stentrode & Bionics Institute Collaborator
Help fund pioneering research
Want to support the research stars of the future?
Early-stage research for life-changing devices & treatments like this is made possible by donations from our supporters.
Your support today could help pioneer the life-changing medical breakthroughs we urgently need!
